Financial document processing system

ABSTRACT

A system for processing deposits and/or withdrawals in a financial institution accepts a plurality of documents, including currency bills, at an input receptacle of a document-processing device, converts the image of at least some of the documents to electronic data representing the image. The currency bills are denominated by the document processing device, and the total value of the bills included in each deposit is accumulated. Whenever the total value of the bills in a deposit exceeds a prescribed value, a report may be generated containing at least an identification of the specified account, the total value of the bills in the deposit, and the serial numbers of the bills. The serial numbers may be extracted from images of the bills.

PRIORITY CLAIM AND CROSS REFERENCE

The present application claims priority from co-pending U.S. Provisionalapplication for Patent Ser. No. 60/413,387, filed Sep. 25, 2002, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to processing financial documents. Moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, the present inventionrelates to an apparatus and method for monitoring deposits and/orwithdrawals as they are made, archiving information derived from thedeposit and withdrawal transactions, and retrieving and using thearchived information for various automated operations.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is well known that information obtained from various financialdocuments, including currency bills, as they enter and leave a financialinstitution, may be useful in various automated operations within theinstitution, if that information may be retrieved. For example, the lawsof various countries require banks and other financial institutions toreport to the governments of such countries any cash deposits in excessof a prescribed value, e.g., in excess of $10,000 in the U.S. Those lawstypically specify the type of information to be included in suchreports, such as identification of the account to which the deposit wasmade, the amount of the deposit, the location of the facility where thedeposit was made, the serial numbers of the deposited currency, andother useful information.

Based upon the foregoing there is a great need to have a system that iscapable of monitoring all deposits made at a financial institution andautomatically generating the required report whenever the total value ofa cash deposit exceeds the threshold value prescribed by the laws of thecountry in which that facility is located.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention satisfies this need by providing a system foraccepting deposits of financial documents, such as currency bills, andusing a document processing device for crediting to a specified account.This system accepts a plurality of documents, including currency bills,at an input receptacle of the document processing device, converts theimage of at least the serial numbers on the currency bills to electronicdata representing the image, and extracts the serial numbers from theelectronic data representing the image. The currency bills aredenominated by the document processing device, and the total value ofthe bills included in each deposit is accumulated. Whenever the totalvalue of the bills in a deposit exceeds a prescribed value, a report isgenerated containing at least an identification of the specifiedaccount, the total value of the bills in the deposit, and the serialnumbers of the bills.

An alternative embodiment according to the principles of the presentinvention is also capable of processing withdrawals of currency billsfrom a specified account in a financial institution by accepting awithdrawal request and identifying a set of currency bills to satisfythat request, and storing an identification of the withdrawal inassociation with electronic data representing images of that set ofcurrency bills.

Yet another embodiment according to the principles of the inventionprovides a scanning system that is capable of tracking currency bills ina financial institution, by scanning at least a portion of the images ofthe currency bills taken in by the financial institution to produceelectronic data representing the images, storing the electronic datarepresenting the images in association with data representing thelocations of the bills within the financial institution at specifiedtimes, and updating the stored data when the bills are moved to adifferent location, to permit retrieval of the images of the bills atspecified locations at specified times.

In another embodiment, electronic images of checks deposited in afinancial institution are obtained at entry portals of the institution.

The above summary of the present invention is not intended to representeach embodiment, or every aspect, of the present invention. This is thepurpose of the figures and the detailed description which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the method and apparatus of the presentinvention may be obtained by reference to the following DetailedDescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the components of a document and currencyprocessing system for use in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a customer interfaceunit containing the processing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a compact document processor having asingle receptacle for receiving processed documents;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a compact document processor having tworeceptacles for receiving processed documents;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the processor shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an image scanner for use in the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a currency bill discrimination andauthentication unit for use in the present invention;

FIGS. 8-10 are plan views of representative control panels for use onthe customer interface unit used in the present invention;

FIGS. 11 a-11 b are flowcharts of a method of conducting a documenttransaction using the system of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a coin processing algorithm for use in thesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic illustration of a keypad for entering thevalue of a no-call document; and

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic illustration of a touch screen for enteringthe value of a no-call document on a touch screen.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. Itshould be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to belimited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsof the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

When describing various embodiments of the present invention, the term“currency bills” or “bills” refers to official currency bills includingboth U.S. currency bills, such as a $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, or $100bill, and foreign currency bills. Foreign currency bills are billsissued by a non-U.S. governmental agency as legal tender, such as aEuro, Japanese Yen, or British Pound bill.

The term “currency documents” includes both currency bills and“substitute currency media.” Examples of substitute currency mediainclude, but are not limited to casino tickets (also variously calledcashout vouchers or coupons) such as “EZ Pay” tickets issued byInternational Gaming Technology or “Quicket” tickets issued by CasinoData Systems; casino script; promotional media such as Disney Dollars orToys ‘R Us “Geoffrey Dollars”; or retailer coupons, gift certificates,gift cards, or food stamps. Substitute currency media may include abarcode, which are referred to herein as “barcoded tickets.” Examples ofbarcoded tickets include casino tickets such as “EZ Pay” tickets and“Quicket” cashout tickets, barcoded retailer coupons, barcoded giftcertificates, or any other promotional media that includes a barcode.

Although the following descriptions of certain embodiments of theinvention will refer to the “denomination” of currency bills as acriterion used in evaluating the currency bills, other predeterminedcriteria may be used to evaluate the currency bills, such as, forexample, color, size, and orientation.

The term “non-currency documents” includes any type of document, exceptcurrency documents, that may be evaluated according to a predeterminedcriterion. For example, such as color, size, shape, orientation, or thatcan simply be imaged. Examples of such documents include checks, depositslips, withdrawal slips, coupon and loan payment documents, food stamps,cash tickets, and all other documents utilized for transactions atfinancial institutions, including not only deposits and withdrawals butalso loan applications, credit card applications, student loanapplications, accounting invoices, debit forms, account transfer forms,and all other types of forms with predetermined fields.

The term “financial documents” includes both currency documents andnon-currency documents.

According to one embodiment, the present invention is directed to animproved system for processing deposits to, and/or withdrawals from,specified accounts in banks and other financial institutions, as well ascasinos and other businesses in which funds are deposited and withdrawn.This system may use automated equipment for all or most of theprocessing steps. The core of the automated equipment is illustrated bythe block diagram in FIG. 1, and one embodiment of a customer interfacecontaining a major portion of the automated equipment is illustrated inFIG. 2. A user makes a deposit by using a communications panel 10 toinput the identification of the account to which the deposit is to becredited, the amount of the deposit, and any other required information,such as a password or PIN.

In the particular customer interface unit shown in FIG. 2, thecommunications panel includes a keyboard 11 that interacts with adisplay screen 12, and also includes a card reading slot for receiving auser's identification card. The user may log onto the machine byinserting the card into the slot 13 to access the machine. A card readermay obtain the user's account information from the card. The user isthen prompted to enter a PIN number and, if the PIN number matches theaccount information read from the card, the user is prompted to depositone or more documents into an input receptacle 14. A microphone 15 and aspeaker 16 are also provided to allow two-way communication between theuser and a bank office, such as a teller at a bank's central office.Thus, during the operating hours of a financial institution, bankpersonnel are connected to the system by the microphone 15 and speaker16. Other modules that may be added to the system include a smart cardacceptance module 25 for accepting smart cards, a smart card dispensingmodule for dispensing smart cards, and/or an optical reader module foraccepting and dispensing optical media.

After the user places the currency to be deposited into the inputreceptacle 14, a transport mechanism 17, as shown in FIG. 1, transportsthe currency bills in seriatim from the input receptacle 14 past animage scanner 18, where the bills are illuminated and scanned. Thescanner 18, described in greater detail below, scans the image of atleast serial numbers on the bills and generates electronic datarepresenting that image. The scanner typically contains built-in lightsources, such as LEDs, and either CCD sensors or CMOS sensors thatdetect the light reflected off the document and convert that light to acorresponding electrical signal. Multiple sensors are typically arrangedin a line or an x-y array that extends across the full width of thedocument being scanned, with each sensing element producing anelectrical signal representing one pixel of the scanned image. Thesignal for each pixel may be processed as a single bit that simplyrepresents black or white, or it may be processed as multiple bitsrepresenting a gray level or a color. Sensor modules having all thelight sources and sensing elements required to scan the image on adocument are commercially available, and are often referred to asContact Image Sensors (“CIS”). These modules produce standard videooutput signals, either digital or analog, that may be used to displaythe scanned images and/or stored for subsequent retrieval and display ofthe scanned images. These electrical signals or electronic data areoften referred to as “electronic images.” Digital signals may be usedfor storage of large numbers of images over extended periods of time,such as the seven-year period for which banks are legally required tostore checks after they have been cashed. Compression techniques may beused to reduce the amount of data that is stored, while still permittingthe images to be displayed when that data is retrieved from storage.

The image data may be processed to extract the serial numbers of thebills. If the full image of each bill is scanned, the resulting imagedata is analyzed to recognize the serial number field within each bill,and then the serial numbers contained within those fields are extractedand stored for later use by the system. As described below, other typesof information may also be extracted from the image data. The processingof the image data to recognize specified fields and to extract serialnumbers or other information from those fields may be performed bycommercially available Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”) engines orIntelligent Character Recognition (“ICR”) engines. These enginesautomatically convert pre-defined characters or data fields intoeditable text and map it directly into a database that may be displayed,stored and retrieved. For example, electronic images of handwrittennumeric amounts, such as amounts written on checks, may beelectronically converted into computer-usable data.

The system may also be used to capture any document image for electronicdocument display, electronic document storage, electronic documenttransfer, electronic document recognition (such as denominationrecognition or check amount recognition) or any other processingfunction that may be performed using an electronic image. For example,the customer might place a deposit slip in the input receptacle 14 alongwith the currency, and the deposit might include endorsed checks as wellas currency. The images of all these documents may be scanned, processedand stored for future retrieval.

In FIG. 1, the transport mechanism 17 also transports the bills past adiscrimination and authentication unit 19 that is also described ingreater detail below. The discrimination and authentication unit 19authenticates each bill and/or determines the denomination of the bill.On other documents, such as deposit slips and checks, the system maycapture information such as the account number, bank number, checknumber and signatures. The discrimination and authentication unit 19also directs the transport mechanism 17 to place the document in aselected receiving receptacle 20 as described below.

The receiving receptacle 20 may be a single receptacle into which alldocuments transported by the transport mechanism 17 are delivered.Alternatively, dual receptacles may be provided for receivingidentifiable documents in the first receptacle and unidentifiabledocuments in the second receptacle. Additionally, any number ofreceptacles may be used to receive the documents, such as separatereceptacles for $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills.

The illustrative system also includes a dispensing unit 21 that canreturn or dispense funds to a user. For example, when the user isdepositing currency in an account, the system has the capability toreturn all or part of a deposit back to the user in the form of bills,coins, or other media via the dispensing unit 21. For example in theunit shown in FIG. 2, loose currency is dispensed from a slot 22,strapped currency from a receptacle 23, and loose or rolled coin at areceptacle 24. The amount of payback to the user may be supplemented byfunds from other accounts as well, as described below. The dispensingunit 21 is capable of responding to a variety of media including moneyorders, smart cards, and checks and may include separate units fordifferent types of media.

A controller 30 manages the operation of the system. The controller 30directs the flow of documents from the input receptacle 14 through thetransport mechanism 17, past the full image scanner 18 and thediscrimination and authentication unit 19, and into the receivingreceptacle 20. The transport mechanism carries the documents through thesystem such that the scanhead extends across their wide dimension, e.g.,bills are transported with their narrow edges parallel to the directionof movement. Alternatively, the documents may be passed through thesystem in the direction of the long dimension of the documents so thatthe scanhead extends across their narrow dimension. The controller 30also directs the dispensing unit 21 to return or dispense funds to theuser and routes information from the image scanner 18 and thediscrimination and authentication unit 19 to an interface 31 thatcommunicates with an accounting system or central office computer 32.The controller 30 is also capable of directing information from anoutside office through the interface 31 and to the communications panel10. Finally, the controller 30 selectively processes information fromthe image scanner 18 and the discrimination and authentication unit 19for use by the system.

The system, via the link with a central office computer 32, is capableof processing transactions substantially immediately. That is, depositsmay be processed in real time, while the customer is logged onto themachine, or within a short time after the customer logs off, rather thanwaiting for the end of the day. Also, full or partial images of alldocuments are fed into and/or dispensed by the machine may be stored onmass storage devices 33 at the central office. Partial images mayinclude, for example, only the serial-number fields of currency bills,only the front side of a deposit slip, or any pre-selected fields onchecks. In any event, the electronic data representing the full orpartial image may be capable of being retrieved and displaying thatimage at a future time. The images can also be stored at the unititself, or at another remote system, or may be temporarily stored andforwarded at a later time.

A personal computer 34 can also be connected to the system to processdata from the scanner. Processing of scanned data can occur at thepersonal computer 34, within the image scanner 18 or the discriminationand authentication unit 19, or at the central office computer 32. Thesystem also may be connected to a teller station 35 (which includes amonitor).

The central office computer 32 (which includes a monitor) also receivesand displays images of the documents from the system. If the documentsare not recognizable, the bank employee can discuss the document withthe customer. In this case, the bank employee can decide whether toaccept the document immediately for credit after reviewing the image onthe terminal. Enough information may have been scanned on anunrecognizable document that review by the bank employee on the displaywill enable the bank employee to accurately call the value of thedocument.

Additionally, displaying the image of a document may enable a teller toenter missing data via the keyboard, if the relevant portion of theimage is recognizable. If the teller is near the machine and an image onthe monitor is unclear, the teller may remove the document from thescanner, inspect the document, and enter the missing data. The value canalso be entered via the denomination keys and other information may beentered via an alphanumeric keypad, as described below, or with a touchscreen or mouse and application software. In some situations, thecustomer may enter the value or other information concerning theunidentified documents. This entry is made via the keyboard, and creditis given to the customer's account only after the document is verifiedby bank personnel. In other situations, the document may be returned tothe customer.

An entry portal may take a variety of different forms. Self-serviceportals may be provided by ATMs or other large multi-function machinescapable of imaging and/or otherwise processing incoming documents andthen transferring the images and/or other information obtained byprocessing the documents electronically rather than by transferring thephysical documents. These self-service machines are also capable ofdispensing the received documents, or storing them until there is a needto physically transfer them. Sometimes that transfer will be simply to adocument destruction site or to an archive. Attended portals, such asteller stations in banks, may be equipped with the smaller machines thatimage and/or otherwise process primarily incoming documents. Thesesmaller machines can also be used for selective processing of outgoingdocuments, such as imaging the currency bills in cash withdrawals andautomatically generating reports when the cash withdrawals exceedprescribed thresholds.

The check images obtained by scanning checks at the entry portals may beused in an electronic check collection system in which check paymentinformation is exchanged electronically. The electronic images of thechecks can also be electronically endorsed, e.g., by tagging theelectronic image of the check with electronic endorsement information.The payee named on a check normally deposits the check with the payee'sbank (the “bank of first deposit,” or “BOFD”), which credits the amounton the check to the payee's account. The BOFD then sends the check tothe drawer's bank (the “paying bank”). If the drawer and the payee usethe same bank, the check is an “on-us” check and may be processed withinthat one bank. If the drawer and the payee use different banks, thecheck is an “interbank” or “transit” check which must be cleared throughan interbank collection system. When the check reaches the paying bank,that bank settles with the presenting bank, and the amount of the checkis deducted from the drawer's account. The check is normally endorsed bythe presenting bank as well as the BOFD and any intermediaries involvedin the check collection process, and any or all of these endorsementsmay be effected by electronically tagging the check image with therequired endorsement information. Thus, physical transfer of the paperchecks may be avoided, saving both time and expense.

After the images and/or the serial numbers of currency bills entering abank or other financial institution have been stored in electronic form,that information may be used to track the movement of the bills withinthat institution. That is, the image or serial number data for each billmay be associated with data representing the location of that bill andthe time and date when the bill was delivered to that location, and thensuch data may be updated each time the currency bill is moved to adifferent location. For example, when currency bills are delivered to agiven teller station, the location data for those bills may be updatedto identify that teller station and the time and date when the currencyis delivered to that station. Then if a robbery occurs at that tellerstation, the computer records will show which serial numbers weredelivered to that station and which serial numbers were dispensed tocustomers, and it may be determined which serial numbers, if any, remainat that station. By subtracting the latter two sets of numbers from thefirst set, it may be determined exactly which serial numbers were takenin the robbery, which may be useful information for law enforcementagencies. Also, other financial institutions that scan incoming currencybills may be notified of the serial numbers of the stolen bills so thatthey can detect the deposit of any such bills, and identify thedepositor.

The system of FIG. 1 may also be used to process withdrawals. Asmentioned previously in FIG. 2, the system has a slot 13 for theinsertion of a customer identification card, and the customer willtypically be required to enter a PIN identification number through thekeyboard 11. After identification of the customer account is determined,and the customer identification has been confirmed from the PIN number,the customer may request a withdrawal via the keyboard or by inserting adocument such as a check or withdrawal slip into the input receptacle 14so that the document may be scanned to produce a storable electronicimage. Immediate payment to the customer may be made after scanning theinserted document and determining that the identified account containssufficient funds to permit a withdrawal of the amount requested.

Prior to dispensing a set of currency bills that satisfies thewithdrawal request, those bills are scanned and/or a determination ismade that electronic images of those bills are in the archive. Thelatter determination may be made by identifying the serial numbers ofthe bills to be dispensed, and conducting a search of previously storedimages by serial number. This determination may be made after scanningall the bills to be dispensed, to determine which images need to bestored, or the determination may be made before scanning so that onlythose bills without previously stored images may be scanned. Thescanning may be initiated automatically in machines that canautomatically dispense currency bills, or may be initiated manually byfeeding the currency bills into a scanner for processing before they aredelivered to the customer.

For each withdrawal transaction, the amount and date of the withdrawal,the account identification, and the serial numbers of the billsdispensed for that withdrawal are stored. Then if any questions arise inthe future, the stored information for any given withdrawal transactionmay be retrieved, and the serial numbers of the bills may be used toalso retrieve the images of the bills dispensed for that transaction. Ifrequired, reports containing this same information may be generatedautomatically for any cash withdrawal that exceeds a specifiedthreshold, or for specified accounts. Alternatively or additionally, thesystem may be programmed to automatically generate a report in responseto the dispensing of currency bills having specified serial numbers, orof specified denominations (such as $100 bills).

By “central accounting system,” it is meant to include the hardware andsoftware associated with accessing, maintaining, tracking, and updatingsavings accounts, checking accounts, credit card accounts, business andcommercial loans, consumer payments, or other similar accounts atlocations remote from the full image scanners. The term includes any ofthree broad types of systems: systems where deposits are made; systemswhere withdrawals are made; and systems where both deposits andwithdrawals are made. Although the central accounting system describedherein is described as being employed at a financial institution such asa bank, it will be understood that any business, public or privateinstitution, or individual can employ a central accounting system toprocess transactions. By “financial institution” it is meant to includebanks, savings and loans, investment houses, and all other types offinancial institutions whether private, public, or government. Thefollowing description is in terms of banks but it will be understoodthat it is applicable to other financial institutions as well.

The central accounting system processes information associated withchecking accounts which may be held by individual consumers, businesses,trade associations, trusts, non-profit organizations, or any otherorganization. Documents utilized in the checking account functioninclude checks, check account deposit slips, debit or credit slips whichmay be issued by the bank against the checking account, new accountapplication forms, and forms for customers to reorder checks and depositslips. The image scanner is capable of processing all of these documentsto obtain the requisite information from the different documents, aswill be described in more detail below for various documents. Thedocuments may be received at an image scanner located at a teller line,a drive-up window, an ATM, or, alternatively, the documents may bereceived by mail. If received by mail, the bank employee may immediatelyrun the documents through the image scanner without having to forwardthe documents to a central location for processing. The centralaccounting system maintains a record of all transactions regarding thechecking account, balances, and tracks information associated with aparticular check.

Savings accounts are another type of account for which the centralaccounting system processes information. Savings accounts typicallyreceive some rate of interest on the balances held. Individuals maymaintain interest-bearing savings accounts at a bank. Depending upon theterms, the time for which funds are committed to a savings account canvary in duration from immediate demand for withdrawal to as long as fiveyears. When a customer agrees to leave the funds for a longer period oftime, this usually provides the account with a higher interest rate.Documents used in a savings account transaction include, but are notlimited to, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, new account applicationslips and debit or credit slips which may be applied against the accountby the given banking institution. The image scanner is capable ofimaging all of these documents. Again, the documents may be received ata teller line, drive-up window, ATM, or by mail, and may be immediatelyscanned at any point of entry without transporting the documents to acentral location. The electronic data representing the images may besent to a central accounting system where the data may be stored,analyzed and retrieved. The accounting system, in different embodiments,may compile statistics on customers and their accounts, maintain currentbalances, interest earnings, and available funds and advances, andrecord information concerning deposits and withdrawals.

Credit card accounts are another type of account handled by the centralaccounting system. When a credit card is used in a transaction, the banktypically receives a commission. The central accounting system maintainsa record of the customer's credit limit, available credit, currentbalance, and payment. Preferably, the central accounting system does notsettle the credit card balance until the end of the month, when thecustomer typically pays the balance due on the account. The debit cardis similar to a credit card, but the customer's account is immediatelydebited when the transaction takes place.

Smart cards are a method of payment issued by banks, phone companies,and transit authorities for use by customers. The smart cards have apre-stored value in place that a customer draws against. Consumers mightdeposit cash or write a check or submit a savings withdrawal documentthrough the image scanner to purchase a smart card.

In certain embodiments, the central accounting system may also maintainrecords and manage information concerning mortgages, consumer loans, andstudent loans, such as the loan balance, last payment, interest rate,and amount paid.

The central accounting system may also distribute funds among thevarious accounts described above. For example, an individual, withchecking and savings accounts at a bank, may also hold a mortgage withthe bank. The central accounting system may make monthly withdrawalsfrom the checking account or savings account to pay the monthly mortgageamount due the bank. To accomplish this, the customer may issue a checkfor payment and submit this against a coupon provided to the customer bythe bank with the required monthly mortgage payment. The coupon and thecheck (or savings withdrawal and coupon) are run through the imagescanner (at the teller line or automated teller). Both the imagesobtained by the image scanner and information derived from those imagesmay be transmitted to the central accounting system that conducts therequired transfers.

A customer may mail a check payment and loan coupon to the bank. Uponreceipt, the bank employee immediately runs the check and coupon throughthe image scanner at any bank location-branch, central office, paymentcenter, etc. The document does not have to be forwarded to a centralizedproof department for handling.

In a like manner, businesses can borrow funds from banks for mortgageson commercial property. Again, monthly payments are required, and thebusiness must withdraw funds from its checking account to make thesemonthly payments. A central accounting system may be utilized to make anelectronic payment without the use of checks by using wire transfer orother methods, or the check for payment and the coupon may be scanned bythe image scanner to obtain the payment amount, date and account numberto be entered in the system. Alternatively, a bank customer may mail thecheck payment and loan coupon to the bank. Upon receipt, the bankemployee immediately runs the check and coupon though the scanner at anybank location-branch, central office, payment center, etc. Thus, thedocument does not have to be forwarded to a centralized proof departmentfor handling.

Consumer loan transactions, for example, involving auto loans, homeimprovement loans, and education loans, is another type of transactionthat may be processed by the central accounting system in certainembodiments. Payments are typically made on a monthly repayment scheduleby issuing monthly checks payable to the bank. Image scanning of thecheck and loan coupon may be utilized for this transaction. The paymentmay be processed as described above. Alternatively, the customer canmail a payment that the bank processes through its image scanners.

Various types of business loan transactions may also be processed by thecentral accounting system including a “bank line of credit” or“revolving loan.” This type of loan is typically one year in maturity. Agiven business draws up to an authorized amount in a given year. Forexample, a business may have a line of credit with a bank for up to $2million, and, on a daily basis, draw on this line of credit. The typicalcollateral provided for this type of loan includes accounts receivables,inventory, etc. As long as the business has receivables to support theloan, it can draw up to as much as the authorized amount. Then, when thefinancial position of the business improves, the business pays down thisrevolving loan either by issuing a check payable to the bank or throughwire electronic transfer from the business's cash account to the loanpayment. The image scanner may be used to accept such check payments,and the central accounting system at the bank processes these paymentsas described above.

Banks sometimes underwrite bonds or other issues of securities bycorporations. For example, a business may hold an industrial revenuebond issued by a city in the amount of $1.5 million. However, in supportof the business's credit, the bank guarantees payment if the businesscannot perform. The business pays a small interest rate (for example, ¼or 1% per year) for the bank's guarantee. Checks are one method used bybanks for such payments. Therefore, the image scanner and centralaccounting system may be utilized to process this type of transaction,as described above.

Another service sometimes provided by the central accounting system forbusiness accounts is cash management. This may be provided by lock boxservices or sweep accounts. For example, a business needs a minimumoperating cash balance in its checking account each day to meetrequirements for payments to vendors or employees, for example. Eachday, hundreds of payments from various customers of the business arereceived, typically by check, and all these payments may be imaged bothfor storage and to permit the necessary information to be extracted andused in the accounting system. The checks are deposited into the generalaccount of the business. When the business's account balances exceed itsoperating requirements, the central accounting system at the bankautomatically “sweeps” extra funds from the non-interest-bearing accountto an interest-bearing account such as commercial paper.

In a similar manner, many companies have customer payments directed to abank lock box. This lock box address is at a bank location, and allcustomer payments to the company are diverted to this lock box address.This ensures that the payments are deposited as quickly as possible sothat the bank's commercial customers have immediate use of the funds atthe bank. The next day the central accounting system at the bank advisesthe business which payments were received into the account, and thebusiness adjusts its accounts receivables balance one day later,creating a timing problem due to the delay.

The image scanner enables a business to scan the documents through thescanner at the business's location (thus, eliminating the need to firstsend payments to a bank lock box location) and receive immediate creditelectronically through the central accounting system located at thebank. The images and/or information extracted from the images may betransmitted electronically to the bank as the scanning occurs. The checkimages and other images are immediately available via the centralaccounting system at the bank for settlement purposes. Therefore, lockbox services by banks are handled on a de-centralized basis at bankcustomer locations.

Businesses often maintain cash balances invested in bank commercialpaper. The bank, via the accounting system, pays interest daily on thecash balances. Deposits and withdrawals are typically handled by apre-authorized officer of the company, such as the controller. Movementof funds typically requires written authorization, including a signatureof the company officer. The image scanner and central accounting systemmay be utilized for withdrawals from commercial paper to a checkingaccount, or for purchase of commercial paper. This may be initiated byinserting a pre-designed form with an area to add the amount field andauthorized signature. The image scanner captures the amount and seeks amatch for the signature.

A compact scanner 40 for use in automatically accepting documents, butwithout the capability of storing or automatically dispensing currencyor other documents, is shown in FIG. 3. This particular scanner 40 has asingle document output and may be located on a countertop or desktop atindividual teller stations in banks, for example, where incomingdocuments may be manually removed from the machine after they have beenprocessed by passing them through the machine. Currency may be dispensedmanually, after passing it through the scanner 40 and inputtinginformation such as the customer's identification, to make a record ofthe transaction. A preferred embodiment of the scanner 40 includes allthe modules illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 1 except thedispensing unit 21, the computers 32, 34 and 35, and the mass storage33, and has a height H, width W and depth D of less than about 12 incheseach. Another compact scanner 50, with two document outputs, is shown inFIGS. 4 and 5 and is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,819,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The transportsystem in the scanner 50 is one example of the transport mechanism 17 inthe system of FIG. 1. A preferred embodiment of the scanner 50 has aheight H of less than about 20 inches and a width W and depth D of lessthan about 15 inches each. As in the case of the scanner 40, a preferredembodiment of the scanner 50 includes all the modules illustrated in theblock diagram of FIG. 1 except the dispensing unit 21, the computers 32,34 and 35, and the mass storage 33.

The transport and processing system in the scanner 50 may be part of alarge multi-function machine of the type illustrated in FIG. 2, for bothaccepting and dispensing currency bills and other documents, or it maybe used in a small countertop or desktop machine, as shown in FIG. 3,that may be used at teller stations to immediately process incomingcurrency bills, checks and other documents, as well as outgoingcurrency.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a stack of incoming documents (or even asingle document) is placed in an input receptacle 51 from which thedocuments are automatically fed one at a time into a transport mechanismthat includes a transport plate or guide plate 52 for guiding documentsto one of a pair of receiving receptacles 53 and 54. The transportmechanism preferably transports the documents at a rate of at least 800documents per minute, and most preferably at least 1000 documents perminute. If desired, a faster rate may be used when only thedenominating/authenticating unit is activated, and a slower rate whenthe image scanner, or both the image scanner and thedenominating/authenticating unit, are activated. Before reaching thereceiving receptacles 53, 54, a document may be imaged, evaluated,analyzed, authenticated, discriminated, counted and/or otherwiseprocessed, and the results of such processing may be used to determineto which receptacle 53 or 54 a document is directed.

The input receptacle 51 for receiving a stack of documents to beprocessed is formed by downwardly sloping and converging walls 55 and 56(see FIG. 4) formed by a pair of removable covers (not shown) which snaponto a frame. The wall 56 supports a removable hopper (not shown) thatincludes vertically disposed side walls (not shown). One embodiment ofsuch an input receptacle is described and illustrated in more detail inU.S. Pat. No. 5,687,963, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

From the input receptacle 51, the documents are moved in seriatim fromthe bottom of the stack along a curved guideway 57 (shown in FIG. 5),which receives documents moving downwardly and rearwardly and changesthe direction of travel to a forward direction. The documents are fedfrom the bottom of the stack to the curved guideway 57 by a strippingwheel mounted on a shaft 58. The curvature of the guideway 57corresponds substantially to the curved periphery of a drive roll 59 soas to form a narrow passageway for the bills along the rear side of thedrive roll. An exit end of the curved guideway 57 directs the documentsonto the transport plate 52 which guides the documents through anevaluation section 71 and to one of the receptacles 53, 54.

In another embodiment, both the image scanner 18 and the discriminatingand authenticating unit 19, each of which is described in more detailbelow, are mounted in the evaluation section 60. In an alternativeembodiment, the image scanner 18 is mounted in the evaluation section 60and the discriminating and authenticating unit 19 is mounted downstreamof the image scanner, between the guide rolls 70 a and 70 b. In yetanother alternative embodiment, the image scanner 18 also functions asthe discriminating and authenticating unit, by using the electronic datarepresenting the image to determine the denomination and authenticity ofthe documents. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,680,472 and 5,729,623 describe systemsfor using image data to determine the denomination and authenticity ofcurrency bills.

Stacking of the documents is accomplished by a pair of driven stackingwheels 60 and 61 for the first or upper output receptacle 53, and by asimilar pair of stacking wheels 62 and 63 for the second or lower outputreceptacle 54. The stacking wheels 60-63 are supported for rotationalmovement about respective shafts 64 and 65 journaled on a rigid frameand driven by a motor (not shown). Flexible blades of the stacker wheels60, 61 deliver the documents onto a forward end of a stacker plate 66.Similarly, the flexible blades of the stacker wheels 62, 63 deliver thebills onto a forward end of a stacker plate 67.

A diverter 68 directs the documents to either the first or secondreceptacle 53 or 54. When the diverter 68 is in a lower position,documents are directed to the first receptacle 53. When the diverter 68is in an upper position, documents are directed to the second receptacle54.

The documents may be diverted to different output receptacles based upona variety of criteria. For example, the documents may be diverted todifferent output receptacles based upon the type of document, such as,bills to one output receptacle, checks or other non-currency documentsto the other. In other embodiments, bills may be diverted to differentoutput receptacles based upon denomination. In some embodiments, on-uschecks may be diverted to one output receptacle, while transit checksare diverted to the other. Alternatively, in other embodiments, billsand/or other documents may be diverted based upon the country of origin,such as, U.S. bills and checks go into one output receptacle, andCanadian bills and checks go into another.

Currency bills are automatically denominated and authenticated as wellas being imaged, and checks and other non-currency documents are simplyimaged, all under the control of the controller 30. The controller 30may be programmed to discard the images of documents recognized asgenuine currency bills, or to extract prescribed information from suchimages and then discard them, or to transmit all the images to anarchive. Alternatively, the controller 30 may transmit all the images toa central computer for further processing there.

Another embodiment of the image scanner 18 will be described in moredetail with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 6, although it willbe understood that a variety of different image scanners may be used inthe systems provided by this invention. The image scanner may be of thetype disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,812, which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety. As shown in FIG. 6, the front and backsurfaces of documents 81 are scanned by a pair of scanheads 80 and 82,which convert the images into electronic data representing those images.The scanheads 80 and 82 include electronic circuitry that generates asequence of analog signals representing light and dark images definingthe image on the document. The scanheads 80 and 82 are arranged forsimultaneously scanning both the front and back surfaces of thedocuments and are connected respectively to analog-to-digital converters84 and 86 which convert the analog values into discrete binary grayscale values of, for example, 256 gray scale levels. The scanheads 80and 82 are capable of obtaining images of varying resolutions. Theparticular resolution chosen, which may be varied by the user, isselected based upon the type of document being scanned, as is known inthe art. A preferred scanhead is the PI228MC-A4 Contact Image Sensor(CIS) Module made by Peripheral Imaging Corporation in San Jose, Calif.,which contains the required light source, focusing optics, detectorarray and electronics for producing an analog video output containing1728 pixels/line with a density of 200 pixels/inch.

The high resolution gray scale image data from the analog-to-digitalconverters 84 and 86 is directed to an image data preprocessor 88 inwhich the data may be enhanced and smoothed and which serves to locatethe edges of successive documents and discard irrelevant data betweendocuments. If the documents are slightly skewed, the image preprocessor88 can also perform rotation of the image data to facilitate subsequentprocessing.

The image data output of the preprocessor 88 is monitored forunacceptable image quality by an image quality unit 90. For example, theimage quality unit 90 monitors the distribution of gray scale values inthe image data and creates a histogram. As is well known in the art,acceptable quality images have a distribution of gray scale valueswithin certain prescribed limits. If the gray scale distribution of thehistogram falls outside these limits, this is indicative of poor imagequality and an error condition is generated.

The image data is transmitted from the quality unit 90 to a processor 91that outputs the processed image data to a buffer 94 at the data inputchannel 96 to the controller 30. As mentioned above, OCR and/or ICR canuse the image data to extract or capture specified information fromspecified fields of the image. For example, when processing checks, OCRcan detect the “$” symbol as a coordinate to the left of the numericcheck amount field box, and then extract the amount from that box. As isknown in the art, a straight coordinate system or dimension system isused where known dimensions of the box are used to locate the field.Also, when scanning currency, OCR can detect the field where the serialnumbers are printed and extract those numbers.

When scanning bar-coded documents, the scanhead may obtain an image ofthe bar-coded portion of the document and use the image to decipher theinformation from the bar code. For example, if a bar code is used torepresent the value of the document (e.g., on a casino redemption ticketor a “Disney Dollar”), the scanhead may obtain an image of the bar codeand then use that image to read the bar code and determine the value ofthe document, rather than reading the bar code directly from thedocument. Computer software for decoding bar-coded information from animage of the bar code is commercially available, such as, fromVisionShape, Inc. of Placentia, Calif., or Kofax Image Products ofIrvine, Calif.

The controller 30 may be programmed to locate fields for various typesof currency and perform processing as follows. Based on scanning certainareas on the currency or document, the controller 30 first identifiesthe type of currency, for example, U.S. bills. Then, based on thatidentification, certain fields of interest are located, and theinformation in those fields is extracted and stored for use by thesystem. The controller 30 may also compress the image data, as is knownin the art, for storage or in preparation for transmission to an outsidelocation. Programs for extracting and storing information fromprescribed fields in a document image are commercially available. Forexample, OCR and ICR engines for converting pre-defined characters ordata fields into editable text and mapping it directly into a databaseare available from Mitek Systems, Inc. in San Diego, Calif. Checkreaders and OCR line readers are commercially available from a varietyof sources. Programs for converting bitmap images of handwritten numericamounts (such as, written on checks or other documents) intocomputer-usable character data are available from Orbograph Corporationin Billerica, Mass.

The amount of image data per document may vary depending upon the sizeand nature of the document, and the efficiency of any compression of theimage data obtained by scanning that particular document. To ensure thatno data is lost in the event that the volume of image data temporarilyexceeds the transfer capacity of the high speed data channel, apre-channel buffer 94 is interposed prior to the data channel 96, whichis connected to the controller 30. The capacity of the pre-channelbuffer 94 is continually monitored by the controller 30 so thatappropriate action may be taken if the buffer becomes overloaded. Thecompressed video image data is received by the controller 30 over thehigh-speed data channel 96 and is initially routed to temporary storage.The image buffer is preferably of a size capable of storing the imagedata from at least several batches or runs of checks or similardocuments. The controller 30 performs the functions of analyzing thedata. Alternatively, as discussed above, analysis of the data can occurat the central office computer 32 or at a personal computer 34 attachedto the system.

Other scanning modules and methods may be used in place of, or inaddition to, the particular one described above. These include CCD arraysystems, multi-cell arrays and other well-known scanning techniques.Examples of these techniques and devices are described in U.S. Pat. No.5,023,782; U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,158; U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,750; and U.S.Pat. No. 4,205,780, all of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety. The scanning module can also be a color image scannersuch as the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,292, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Another embodiment of the discrimination and authentication unit 18 willbe described in connection with FIG. 7. This particular embodiment isdescribed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,921, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of acurrency discriminating unit 110 having a single scanhead 111. The unit110 includes a bill-accepting station 112 where stacks of bills 113 thatneed to be identified and counted are picked up. A bill separatingmechanism 114 separates one bill at a time by a transport mechanism 116along a precisely predetermined transport path, across a scanhead 111where the currency denomination of the bill is identified. A suitabletransport mechanism has been described above. The scanhead 111 is anoptical scanhead that scans for characteristic information from ascanned bill 113 that is used to identify the denomination of the bill.The scanned bill 113 is then transported to a bill stacking station 120.

The optical scanhead 111 of FIG. 7 comprises a pair of light sources 122directing light onto the bill transport path so as to illuminate asubstantially rectangular strip 124 on a bill 113 positioned adjacentthe scanhead 111. Light reflected off the illuminated strip 124 issensed by a photodetector 126 positioned directly adjacent the strip.The analog output of the photodetector 126 is converted into a digitalsignal by means of an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter 128 whose outputis fed as a digital input to the controller 30.

While the scanhead 111 of FIG. 7 is an optical scanhead, it should beunderstood that it may be designed to detect a variety of differenttypes of characteristic information from bills. Additionally, thescanhead may employ a variety of additional detection means such asmagnetic, electrical conductivity, and capacitive sensors, as discussedin more detail below.

Referring again to FIG. 7, the bill transport path in this exemplaryembodiment is defined in such a way that the transport mechanism 116moves bills with the narrow dimension of the bills parallel to thetransport path and the scan direction. As a bill 113 traverses thescanhead 111, the light strip 124 traverses the bill across the narrowdimension of the bill. As depicted in FIG. 7, the transport path is soarranged that a bill 113 is scanned by the scanhead 111 approximatelyalong the central section of the bill along its narrow dimension, asshown in FIG. 7. The scanhead 111 functions to detect light reflectedfrom the bill as it moves across the illuminated light strip 124 and toprovide an analog representation of the variation in light so reflectedwhich, in turn, represents the variation in the dark and light contentof the printed pattern or indicia on the surface of the bill. Thisvariation in light reflected from the narrow dimension scanning of thebills serves as a measure for distinguishing, with a high degree ofconfidence, among multiple currency denominations that thediscrimination unit is programmed to handle.

A series of such detected reflectance signals are obtained across thenarrow dimension of the bill, or across a selected segment thereof, andthe resulting analog signals are digitized under control of thecontroller 30 to yield a fixed number of digital reflectance datasamples. The data samples are then subjected to a normalizing routinethat processes the sampled data for improved correlation and forsmoothing out variations due to contrast fluctuations in the printedpattern on the bill surface. The normalized reflectance data representsa characteristic pattern that is unique for a given bill denominationand provides sufficient distinguishing features among characteristicpatterns for different currency denominations. This process is morefully explained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 for a “Method and Apparatusfor Currency Discrimination and Counting,” which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

In order to ensure strict correspondence between reflectance samplesobtained by narrow-dimension scanning of successive bills, theinitiation of the reflectance sampling process is preferably controlledthrough the controller 30 by means of an optical encoder 132 which islinked to the bill transport mechanism 116 and precisely tracks thephysical movement of the bill 113 across the scanhead 111. Morespecifically, the optical encoder 132 is linked to the rotary motion ofthe drive motor which generates the movement imparted to the bill as itis relayed along the transport path. In addition, the mechanics of thefeed and transport mechanism (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 referred toabove) ensure that contact is maintained between the bill and thetransport path, particularly when the bill is being scanned by thescanhead 111. Under these conditions, the optical encoder 132 is capableof precisely tracking the movement of the bill 113 relative to the lightstrip 124 generated by the scanhead 111, by monitoring the rotary motionof the drive motor.

The output of the photodetector 126 is monitored by the controller 30 toinitially detect the presence of the bill underneath the scanhead 111and, subsequently, to detect the starting point of the printed patternon the bill, as represented by the thin borderline 113A which typicallyencloses the printed indicia on bills. Once the borderline 113A has beendetected, the optical encoder 132 is used to control the timing andnumber of reflectance samples that are obtained from the output of thephotodetector 126 as the bill 113 moves across the scanhead 111 and isscanned along its narrow dimension.

The use of the encoder 132 for controlling the sampling process relativeto the physical movement of a bill 113 across the scanhead 111 is alsoadvantageous in that the encoder 132 may be used to provide apredetermined delay following detection of the borderline prior toinitiation of sampling. The encoder delay may be adjusted in such a waythat the bill 113 is scanned only across those segments along its narrowdimension which contain the most distinguishable printed indiciarelative to the different currency denominations.

In the case of U.S. currency, for instance, it has been determined thatthe central, approximately two-inch (5 cm) portion of bills, as scannedacross the central section of the narrow dimension of the bill, providessufficient data for distinguishing among the various U.S. currencydenominations on the basis of the correlation technique disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 referred to above. Accordingly, the encoder 132may be used to control the scanning process so that reflectance samplesare taken for a set period of time and only after a certain period oftime has elapsed after detection of the borderline 113A, therebyrestricting the scanning to the desired central portion of the narrowdimension of the bill.

The controller 30 is programmed to count the number of bills belongingto each currency denomination as part of a given batch of bills thathave been scanned, and to determine the aggregate total of the currencyamount represented by the scanned bills in that batch. The controller 30is also linked to an EPROM 134 and an output unit 136 (FIG. 7) whichprovides a display of the number of bills counted, the breakdown of thebills in terms of denomination, and the aggregate total of the currencyvalue represented by the counted bills. The output unit 136 can also beadapted to provide a print-out of the displayed information in a desiredformat.

The scanhead 111 may comprise multiple scanheads positioned next to eachother, or a single stationary scanhead extending across the entire widthof the documents being scanned. In this case, the same scanhead may beused to generate the data needed to denominate bills and to display andstore the images that appear on bills and other types of documents. Forexample, the electronic data from a single scanhead may be used todenominate bills, and to store images of bills, checks and otherdocuments. Alternatively, the same data may be used to also store imagesof only the serial numbers of bills. One example of such a full-widthscanhead is the aforementioned PI228MC-A4 Contact Image Sensor (CIS)Module made by Peripheral Imaging Corporation in San Jose, Calif.

Two-sided scanning may be used to permit bills to be fed into a currencydiscrimination unit with either side face up, and also to permithigh-speed scanning of images on both sides of the documents beingscanned. An example of a two-sided scanhead arrangement is disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,467,406, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety. Master patterns generated by scanning genuine bills may bestored for segments on one or both sides of bills of all denominations.In the case where master patterns are stored from the scanning of onlyone side of a genuine bill, the patterns retrieved by scanning bothsides of a bill under test may be compared to a master set ofsingle-sided master patterns. In such a case, a pattern retrieved fromone side of a bill under test should match one of the stored masterpatterns, while a pattern retrieved from the other side of the billunder test should not match any of the master patterns. Alternatively,master patterns may be stored for both sides of genuine bills. In such atwo-sided system, a pattern retrieved by scanning one side of a billunder test should match one of the master patterns for one side(Match 1) of a genuine bill, and a pattern retrieved from scanning theopposite side of the bill under test should match one of the masterpatterns of the opposite side of a genuine bill (Match 2).

A counterfeit detection function may also be included in thediscrimination and authentication unit 19. A variety of differentcounterfeit detection techniques are well known and have beenincorporated in currency discriminators. These known counterfeitdetectors detect a variety of different types of characteristicinformation from currency bills, and employ a variety of differentdetection means such as magnetic, optical of capacitive sensors. Theseinclude detection of patterns of changes in magnetic flux, patterns ofvertical grid lines in the portrait area of bills, the presence of asecurity thread, total amount of magnetizable material of a bill,patterns from sensing the strength of magnetic fields along a bill, andother patterns and counts from scanning different portions of the billsuch as the area in which the denomination is written out.

With regard to optical sensing, a variety of currency characteristicsmay be measured such as density, color, length and thickness, thepresence of a security thread and holes, and other patterns ofreflectance and transmission. Color detection techniques may employcolor filters, colored lamps, and/or dichromic beam splitters. Anoptical sensing system using ultraviolet light is described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,640,463, incorporated herein by reference.

In addition to magnetic and optical sensing, other techniques ofdetecting characteristic information of currency include electricalconductivity sensing, capacitive sensing (U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,754(watermark, security thread); U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,899 (thickness); U.S.Pat. No. 3,815,021 (dielectric properties); U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,607(security thread)), and mechanical sensing (U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,447(limpness); U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,651 (thickness)).

A UV authenticating technique may be employed along with one or moreother authenticating and/or discrimination techniques in alternativeembodiments of the imaging system. For example, the imaging system mayinclude both a UV authenticating system and a magnetic authenticatingsystem. It is known that genuine U.S. bills reflect a high level of UVlight and do not fluoresce in response to UV illumination, except incertain special cases described below. An embodiment of the imagingsystem employing both UV and magnetic authentication would be able todetect a counterfeit U.S. bill that passes the UV authentication test(for example, it reflects a sufficient level of UV light and does notfluoresce in response to UV illumination), but fails the magneticauthentication test. In other words, an exemplary embodiment of theimaging system that implements a plurality of authentication tests isable to detect counterfeit bills that would otherwise go undetectedwhere only one authenticating test is employed. Further details of acurrency processing system employing UV, fluorescence and magneticauthentication tests are described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,164,which has been incorporated by reference.

Security features added to U.S. currency beginning with the 1996 series$100 bills include the incorporation into the bills of security threadsthat fluoresce under ultraviolet light. For example, the securitythreads in the 1996 series $100 bills emit a red glow when illuminatedby ultraviolet light. The color of light emitted by security threadsunder ultraviolet light will vary by denomination. For example, with the$100 bills emitting red light and the $50 bills emitting, blue or purplelight. Thus, the red light emitted from the security thread of a $100bill, in response to UV illumination may be used to both authenticateand denominate that bill.

Additionally, the location of the thread within the bill may be used asa security feature. For example, the security threads in all $100 billsare located in the same position. Furthermore, the location of thesecurity threads in other denominations will be the same by denominationand will vary among different denominations. For example, the locationof security threads in $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills may each bedistinct. In such a situation, the presence of a security thread in aspecific location may be used to identify the denomination of the bills.Alternatively, the location may be the same in the $20s and the $100sbut different from the location of the security threads in the $50s.According to alternative embodiments, the imaging processing systemincludes sensors to evaluate the features of security threads, includinglocation, in currency bills. A currency processing system for evaluatingthe authenticity of currency bills based on the fluorescence of securitythreads under UV illumination and the location of the security threadswithin the bills is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,164 B1, which hasbeen incorporated herein by reference.

Additionally, sensors may be employed to detect bills or securitythreads printed or coated with thermochromic materials (materials thatchange color with a change in temperature). Examples of threadsincorporating thermochromic materials are described in U.S. Pat. No.5,465,301, incorporated herein by reference.

The issuance of an error code such as a no-call code or a suspect codemay be used to suspend processing of a stack of bills such that the billtriggering one of these codes is the last bill delivered to a receivingreceptacle before the operation of the system is suspended. Accordingly,the triggering bill may be examined by the operator of the system sothat appropriate action may be taken based on the operator's evaluationof the triggering bill. Alternatively, in a system having two or morereceiving receptacles, the issuance of one of these error codes maycause the triggering bills to be diverted to a different receptacle suchas a reject receptacle, or bills that result in a no-call code may bediverted to one receptacle and those that result in a suspect code maybe diverted to a different receptacle. Accepted bills may be routed toone or more other receptacles. When the currency bill that triggers asuspect code has been imaged, the electronic data representing thatimage may be retained in association with an identification of thecustomer who deposited that bill, so that the account of that customermay be debited in the event the bill is confirmed to be a counterfeit.

The operation of a communications panel 10 will now be described in moredetail in conjunction with FIG. 8 which illustrates a front view of oneexample of a control panel 201. The control panel 201 comprises a keypad202 and a display 203. The keypad 202 comprises a plurality of keysincluding seven denomination-selection elements 204 a-204 g, eachassociated with one of seven U.S. currency denominations—$1, $2, $5,$10, $20, $50 and $100 bills. Alternatively, the keys may be for £2, £5,£10, £20 and £50 bills or any other combination of foreign currency. Fordocument processing systems, the denomination selection elements may belabeled according to the currency system which a system is designed tohandle, and there may be more or less than seven denomination-selectionelements.

The $1-denomination selection key 204 a may also serve as amode-selection key. It should be noted that the denomination-selectionelements may be used to enter not only the value of currency, but alltypes of documents including checks. The keypad 202 also includes acontinuation selection element 205. Various information such asinstructions, mode-selection information, authentication anddiscrimination information, individual denomination counter values, andtotal batch counter value are communicated to the operator via an LCD206 in the display 203. The image processing unit and the discriminationand authentication unit may have a number of different operating modes,including a mixed mode, a stranger mode, a sort mode, a face mode, and aforward/reverse orientation mode.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the control panel 201. Aset of numeric keys with a decimal point collectively labeled 204 h isengaged by the user to enter numeric data from all types of documents.FIG. 10 illustrates a control panel 201 with both numeric keys anddecimal point 204 h and denomination keys 204 a-204 f. The user has thechoice of entering the data by the denomination keys 204 a-204 f or thenumeric keys. The remaining elements of the control panels in FIGS. 8and 9 function as described above.

The operation of a document processing system having the denominationselection elements 204 a-204 g and the continuation element 205, inconnection with several operating modes is described in detail in U.S.Pat. No. 6,278,795 which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

The control panels discussed above may be modified to facilitate theprocessing of documents in various alternative embodiments, includingdifferent embodiments for reconciling bills triggering error conditionssuch as a no-call error signal. When reconciling no-call bills, theoperator inputs the value of the bill that triggered the no-call errorsignal, causing that bill to be included in the various totalsmaintained by the imaging system. According to one alternativeembodiment, the control panel 1061 includes backlit denomination keys204 a-f, or light elements corresponding to each denomination key 204a-g, that are individually selectively illuminated for suggesting adenomination of a bill to an operator in response to a no-call errorsignal. Alternatively, the control panel 1061 can include a “YES” keyand a “NO” key for inputting an operator's response to a displayeddenomination suggestion. In yet another alternative embodiment, thecontrol panel includes a scroll key that allows an operator to scrollthough a plurality of displayed denominations and does not includeindividual denomination keys. In still another alternative embodiment,the control panel includes a touch screen interface. A plurality ofalternative embodiments of the control panel 1061, including a touchscreen, are described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,164, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The structure andoperation of the screens are described and illustrated, for example, inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,317,140; 5,297,030; 5,231,381; 5,198,976; 5,184,115;5,105,186; 4,931,782; 4,928,094; 4,851,616; 4,811,004; 4,806,709 and4,782,328, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The details of conducting a document transaction are illustrated in FIG.11 a and FIG. 11 b. The functionality described below may reside at asingle location or may be distributed among several locations throughoutthe document processing system, for example, in the full image scanner,at the central office computer, and at a personal computer attached tothe document processing system. The user loads mixed documents into themachine at step 228. This may be accomplished, as discussed above, byplacing the documents in receptacle 16 on the machine and initiating theprocessing of the documents. For example, the user may press a start keyon a touch screen on the communications panel 26, as discussed above, toinitiate a transaction. By “document transaction,” it is meant toinclude not only all documents as described above, but also all forms ofstorage media, such as, smart cards, debit cards, CD disks. Stored onthe media is an amount indicating an amount of funds.

The machine attempts to identify the document at step 229. If step 229fails to identify the document, several alternatives are possibledepending upon the exact implementation chosen for the machine. Forexample, as described previously, if it fails to identify the document,the system can use two canisters and place an unidentified document in a“no read” canister. Alternatively, at step 231, the machine may bestopped so that the user can remove the “no read” document immediately.In this alternative embodiment, if the document can not be recognized bythe machine, the unidentified document is diverted, for example, to areturn slot so that it may be removed from the machine by the user.Also, the image may be displayed on the teller's video terminal so thatthe teller can analyze the image without removing the document.Alternatively, the teller may physically remove the document from theoutput receptacle, inspect the document and then enter the missing dataso that the document may be processed. For example, if the amount of acheck or the denomination of a bill could not be determined by themachine, the teller may enter the amount via a control panel, asdiscussed above. After completing these steps, the system returns tostep 229 to identify the other loaded documents.

In the event that the user wishes to deposit “no read” documents thatare returned to the user, the user may key in the value and number ofsuch document and deposit them in an envelope for later verification. Amessage on the display screen may advise the user of this option. Forexample, if four $10 bills are returned, then re-deposited by the userin an envelope, the user may press a “$10” key on the keyboard fourtimes. The user then receives immediate credit for all the documentsdenominated and authenticated by the scanner. Credit for re-deposited“no read” documents is given only after a bank picks up the envelope andmanually verifies the amount. Alternatively, at least preferred usersmay be given full credit immediately, subject to later verification, orimmediate credit may be given up to a certain dollar limit. In the caseof counterfeit documents that are not returned to the user, the user maybe notified of the detection of a suspected counterfeit document at themachine or later by a written notice or personal call, depending uponthe preferences of the financial institution.

If step 229 identifies the documents at step 232, the machine attemptsto authenticate the documents to determine if the documents are genuine.If the documents are not genuine, then the system proceeds to one ofthree steps depending upon which option a user chooses. At step 233, thesystem may continue operation and identify the suspect documents in thestack. In this alternative, a single canister is used for all documents,regardless of whether they are verified bills, no reads, or counterfeitsuspects. On the other hand, at step 234 the machine may outsort thecurrency, for example, to a reject receptacle. The machine may alsoreturn suspect currency at step 235 directly to the user. This isaccomplished by diverting the currency to the return slot. Also, themachine maintains a count of the total number of counterfeit documents.If this total reaches a certain threshold value, an alarm condition willbe generated. The alarm condition may be handled, for example, byturning on a light on the machine or by alerting the central office.

As mentioned above, the system may use a single canister to hold thedocuments. If a single canister system is used, then the variousdocuments may be identified within the single canister by placingdifferent colored markers at the top of different documents. Thesemarkers are inserted into the bill transport path so they follow therespective bills to be inserted into the canister. Specifically, a firstmarker, such as a marker of a first color, is inserted to indicate thedocument is a counterfeit suspect that is not to be returned to theuser. A second type of marker, such as, a marker of a second color, isinserted to indicate that the document is a no-call. A third type ofmarker, such as, a third color, is inserted to indicate that a markedbatch of documents represents a deposit whose verified amount did notagree with the user's declared balance. Because this third type ofmarker identifies a batch of documents instead of a single document, itis necessary to insert a marker at both the beginning and end of amarked batch. The marker can vary in size, contain bar-codes, or vary incolor to easily identify different types of documents such as checks andcurrency.

If the document is authenticated, the total count B_(total) andreceptacle or “bin” count B_(counti) (where “i” is the “ith” receptacle)are incremented at step 236. The total count B_(total) is used by themachine to establish the amount deposited by the user, and thereceptacle counts are used to determine the amount in a particularreceptacle.

The machine then determines whether sorting is required at step 237. Ifthe answer is affirmative, then the document is sorted by denominationat step 238. Rather than using single or double receptacles, asdescribed above, this option includes a receptacle for each denominationand a receptacle for each type of document such as checks and loancoupons. A receptacle may also be designated to receive a combination ofdocuments. For example, one receptacle may be designated forproof-of-deposit documents such as checks, loan coupons, and savingsdeposit slips. Sorting is accomplished by a sorting and counting modulewhich sorts the documents placing each denomination in a specificreceptacle. The sorting algorithm used may be any of those well known inthe art.

After sorting at step 238 or if the answer to step 237 is negative, themachine proceeds to step 240. At step 240, the machine tests if thedocument receptacle in use is full. That is, the machine comparesB_(counti) to the maximum allowed for that receptacle. If it is full, atstep 241, the machine determines if there is an empty documentreceptacle available. If there is no empty document receptacleavailable, at step 241, the machine stops. The full receptacle isemptied at step 242. If an empty document receptacle exists, the machineswitches to the empty receptacle and places the document into thatreceptacle at step 244. At step 243, the system determines when the lastdocument in the deposited stack of documents has been counted. Ifcounting is complete, the machine is stopped at step 245.

The transport mechanism may also include an escrow holding area wherethe document being processed in a pending deposit transaction is helduntil the transaction is complete. Thus, from step 245, the systemproceeds to step 247, to determine if escrow has been enabled. If escrowhas not been enabled, the count of the machine is accepted at step 249,and the total amount B_(total) is posted to the user at step 250. Ifescrow has been enabled, at step 244, the user is given the choice ofaccepting the count. If the user decides not to accept the count, atstep 248, the document is returned to the user. From step 248, themachine proceeds to step 228 where the user is given another chance ofcounting the document. If the user decides to accept the count at step246, the machine proceeds to step 249 where the count is accepted andstep 250 where the total count is displayed to the user. At this point,the document counting transaction is complete.

At step 251, the system determines whether the total amount of currencycounted in the completed transaction is greater than a prescribedthreshold amount, above which a government report is required. If theanswer at step 251 is affirmative, the system generates the requiredreport at step 252, storing and printing a report identifying thecustomer, the account, the amount of the deposit, the number of bills ofeach denomination included in the deposit, the responsible teller andany other information required by the particular law or governmentregulation requiring the report. If the answer at step 251 is negative,the system is reset at step 253 to await the next transaction.

A coin transaction is described in greater detail in FIG. 12. As shown,a customer loads mixed coins into the system at step 260. The coins aresorted, authenticated, and bagged one at a time. At step 261, themachine sorts the coin. The sorting process is described in greaterdetail below. At step 262, the machine determines if the coin isauthentic. This process is also described in greater detail below. Ifthe coin is not authentic, the machine outsorts the coin to a rejectreceptacle at step 263 and then proceeds to step 268 and determines ifcounting and sorting is complete.

If the coin is authentic, the coin count C_(total) and bag countC_(bagi) (where “i” represents the “ith” bag) is incremented by one atstep 264. The system count C_(total) represents the total value of thecoins deposited, while the bag count represents the number of coins in abag. After sorting and authenticating the coin, the system attempts toplace the coin in a bag at step 267. All coins may be placed in one bag,or one bag per denomination may be used. Alternatively, any number ofdenominations, for example, two, may be placed in a bag. At step 267,the system checks to see if the limit of the bag has been reached. Thatis, the system compares C_(bagi) to the predetermined limit for thatbag. If the limit has been reached for the bag in current use (bag A),the machine next checks to see if another bag (bag B) is full at step265. If bag B is full, the machine is stopped and an operator emptiesthe bag at step 266. If the other bag (bag B) is not full, then at step268 the machine switches to this bag and the coin is placed there. Themachine then proceeds to step 269 where a test is performed to determineif counting is complete.

At step 269, the machine determines if sorting is complete. This isaccomplished by sensing whether there are additional coins to sort inthe coin receptacle. If sorting is not complete, the system continues atstep 261 by counting and sorting the next coin. If sorting has beencompleted, at step 270 the machine checks whether the escrow option hasbeen enabled. If it has, at step 271, the machine asks whether thecustomer wishes to accept the count. If the customer replies in theaffirmative, at step 272 the machine accepts the count C_(total) andposts the total to the customer. If the customer replies with a negativeanswer at step 271, then the machine returns the coins to the customerat step 273, and the counting is complete.

If escrow has not been enabled, the machine checks at step 274 to see ifstop has been pressed. If it has, the machine stops. If stop has notbeen pressed, then the machine waits for a certain period to time out atstep 275 and stops when this time period has been elapsed.

As described above, the processing system utilizing image scanning and adiscriminator has the advantage of being able to process mixed currencyor documents. The deposits in the system are processed substantiallyimmediately. In addition, the images of the scanned documents may becommunicated to a central office from which two-way communication isallowed. Finally, the processing system provides all the benefits of anautomated teller machine.

An alternate embodiment of a control panel 280 is shown in FIG. 13. Aset of keys 281 is used to enter numeric data which is shown on thescreen, to supply data which appears to be missing from the bill image282 on the screen. Alternatively, the user may enter denominationinformation using keys 283 which relate to denominations which appear onthe screen. In yet another control panel embodiment, illustrated in FIG.14, a touch screen 290 is used to enter no-call information concerningthe bill image 291 on the screen. The user can enter the missinginformation using a keypad 293 or denomination keys 292 which appear onthe touch screen. Additionally, the user could use a standardalphanumeric keyboard to complete the document image as required.Alternatively, if a personal computer terminal is used, a mouse could beused to identify and select appropriate fields. For example, if thedocument were a check, the unidentified field may be the signature fieldor the amount field. The user would “click” this field, and a secondscreen would appear on the terminal where the missing data would beentered. These routines could be customer-specific based upon thecustomer's needs. Although FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate a bill, in otherembodiments the processing system could be used with both currency andnon-currency documents, such as checks.

The decentralized processing of financial instruments directly at theportals where they first enter a bank's system, may offer the followingadvantages: First, the information from the incoming currency bills,checks, or other documents may be entered into the banks accountingsystem at the earliest possible moment. Second, the handling of thephysical documents may be limited to the absolute minimum legalrequirements because the document images and/or information derived fromthose images may be transferred to the requisite locations. Finally, therisk of lost documents and errors caused by mis-handeling of physicaldocuments is minimized because the requisite images and information fromthe incoming documents are captured as soon as those documents reach oneof the bank's entry portals.

The previous description is of preferred embodiments for implementingthe invention, and the scope of the invention should not necessarily belimited by this description. The scope of the present invention isinstead defined by the following claims.

1-60. (canceled)
 61. A system for processing withdrawals of currencybills from a specified account in a financial institution, comprising: acustomer interface for accepting a withdrawal request identifying thespecified account and an amount of the requested withdrawal; a computerand associated memory including a current balance of the specifiedaccount and at least partial images of a multiplicity of currency bills;an identification device for identifying a set of currency bills tosatisfy the withdrawal request, the currency bills corresponding tostored images thereof; and a memory storing an identification of thespecified account, the amount of the withdrawal, and identification ofthe stored images of the set of currency bills.
 62. The system of claim61, further comprising: a processor for determining whether the imagesof the currency bills included in the set are already stored; and animage scanner adapted to scan the images on at least a portion of anybills included in the set that do not have stored images to produceelectronic.
 63. The system of claim 62, further comprising: anextraction device for extracting the serial numbers of the currencybills in the set from the stored images; and wherein the memory forstoring stores the serial numbers with the identification of thespecified account and the amount of the withdrawal.
 64. The system ofclaim 63, further comprising a generating device for generating a reportwhenever a withdrawal of currency bills is requested from a designatedaccount, the report including at least an identification of thedesignated account, an amount of the withdrawal, and the serial numbersof the bills dispensed to satisfy the withdrawal request.
 65. The systemof claim 64, further comprising: an image scanner adapted to scan atleast a portion of the image on the withdrawal request to produceelectronic data representing the image, and means for extracting anidentity of a customer requesting the withdrawal from the electronicdata representing the image.
 66. A method of processing withdrawals ofcurrency bills from a specified account in a financial institution,comprising: accepting a withdrawal request identifying the specifiedaccount and an amount of the requested withdrawal; determining whetherthe specified account contains the amount; identifying a set of currencybills to satisfy the withdrawal request and dispensing the set ofcurrency bills; and storing an identification of the specified account,the amount of the withdrawal, and the identification of the set ofcurrency bills.
 67. The method of claim 66, further comprising:determining whether images of the bills included in the set are alreadystored; scanning the images on at least a portion of any bills includedin the set that do not have stored images to produce electronic datarepresenting the images, the electronic data being capable of generatinga display of the scanned images, and storing the data representing theimages.
 68. The method of claim 67, further comprising: extracting aserial number of each of the currency bills in the set from the storeddata representing the images; and storing the serial numbers with theidentification of the specified account and the amount of thewithdrawal.
 69. The method of claim 68, further comprising: generating areport whenever a withdrawal of currency bills is requested from thespecified account, the report comprising at least an identification ofthe specified account, the amount of the withdrawal, and a serial numberof each of the bills dispensed to satisfy the withdrawal request. 70.The method of claim 69, which comprises: scanning at least a portion ofan image on the withdrawal request to produce electronic datarepresenting the image; and extracting an identity of a customerrequesting the withdrawal from the electronic data representing theimage.